OUT OF LEFT FIELD

Why I'll miss Barney Frank

Jonathan Cohn loves congressman's pluck and legislative effectiveness

Representative Barney Frank announced his retirement today. And if you’ve followed the coverage, on the web or on television, then you may have seen the clip above.

It’s from a town hall meeting in Massachusetts, during the infamous late summer of 2009, when right-wing activists started showing up at meetings of Democratic lawmakers to protest health care reform. When a woman likened health care reform to the laws of Nazi Germany, Frank dismissed her in his customary way – bluntly and loudly, although with some wit: